Clavier Companion - May/June 2017 - 13
Elvina Pearce presenting three of her new piano collections for Alfred Publishing at the 2015 National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy. that was the nearest she ever came to complimenting me. Need I say that Mme. V. neither fostered my love of music nor of making it at the piano? Actually, when I left her studio for the last time, I didn't know whether I loved or hated music, but I felt sure that I didn't want to ever go near a piano again! If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to study with her? Absolutely. And I shall be forever grateful for all that I learned from her. For instance: * In technique: I acquired an acute awareness of the function of every part of my body that was involved with playing the piano-particularly how to control the balance of muscular tension and relaxation. I also learned a technical approach which was based on beginning tone production on the keys as opposed to lifting up individual fingers before striking the keys. The "on-thekey" approach produces a true legato and a non-percussive sound, both of which are characteristic of Vengerova's students. * In approaching a piece: Step one was always to do a thorough study of its formal structure, notational symbols, word cues, etc., and Mme. demanded that, without fail, her students project all of these in every performance. * In practicing: I learned a myriad of specific strategies designed to either prevent or solve common problems that all pianists must deal with in practice. (Well, maybe not Lang Lang.) Speaking of practice strategies, your book includes pages and pages of tips for achieving success in practice. Did you learn some of these from Vengerova? Yes. Nearly 100 pages of the book deal with specific practice strategies, most of which I learned from her. Readers may enjoy the following: Elvina Pearce (2015). The Success Factor in Piano Teaching: Making Practice Perfect, ed. Craig Sale. The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. Edward Darling, ed. (2005). A Piano Teacher's Legacy: Selected Writings by Richard Chronister. The Frances Clark Center for Keyboard Pedagogy. Both books are available at keyboardpedagogy.org/publications 13 May/June 2017 Clavier Companion
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